Taifuns in northern Europe

• – Thanks to United Kits, the History of Liverpool Kits, Jay Mansfield and Ray Hyland

As we get older, our tastes can change.

That applies to me in the literal sense – as a child, my appetite was quite plain. I will still devour a plate of fish and chips, but sweet chilli sauce and tartare sauce have replaced ketchup as the garnish of choice, while I’m happy to liberally apply ras el hanout and pomegranate molasses to homemade lamb couscous.

As well as my palate evolving, so too has my colour palette. When I was younger, plain and classy kits met with approval and busy ones were given short shrift. Though I will never enjoy strips that are loud for the sake of being loud, I can appreciate those that, while seeming a bit in-your-face, have a considered overall design.

Which brings us to the adidas Taifun goalkeeper kit. First coming to wider prominence as worn by Bodo Illgner when West Germany came out on top at Italia 90, it received an upgrade with the addition of a couple of new colour-schemes in 1992 and continued to be worn by club teams until around 1995.

Looking at now, I love it, though back then I was apathetic at best. Perhaps a reason for this was the fact that my primary focus was football in Ireland and Britain, whereas this seemed to strictly be an exotic, continental concoction.

No teams in England, Scotland or Ireland had a Taifun as a default goalkeeper kit – however, it turns out there were a few rare appearances.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the earliest instance of which we are aware involved a foreign goalkeeper.

When Peter Schmeichel joined Manchester United in the summer of 1991, they didn’t have a shirt big enough for him to wear and, so, while one was being sourced in time for the start of the new season, he played in a Taifun for Matt Busby’s testimonial against the Republic of Ireland.

While the shirt lacked a crest, it did have the Sharp logo and, according to United Kits, the older-style three-stripe numbering.

By the time campaign started, Schmeichel was in the proper United goalkeeper shirt, with a blue backup version, meaning there was no more need for the Taifun. North of the border, however, it would see competitive action – in a final, no less.

Its use by Hibernian custodian, the veteran John Burridge, in the Skol Cup decider against Dunfermline Athletic, was unusual in that they had three bespoke goalkeeper shirts – yellow, red and blue – featuring a unique fabric design that also appeared on the club’s outfield kits.

While there was no crest on the shirt at Hampden Park, one did appear later in the season.

It season proved to be Hibs’ – and Manchester United’s – last season wearing adidas until 2015 but their loss was offset somewhat by the signing of Rangers in the summer of 1992. Naturally, the Gers were resplendent in the brash new adidas Equipment stylings but a numberless Taifun was worn in a few league games by Andy Goram.

Like the United version, it lacked a badge but had a sponsor – the fact that Rangers had a red primary goalkeeper top and a yellow backup would call the Taifun’s usefulness into question, though the black back was possibly a factor in it being chosen.

The testimonial of Liverpool legend Ronnie Whelan against Newcastle United on August 9, 1993 was something of a kit oddity.

The Reds had already worn their new adidas kits in pre-season but, just five days out from their first Premiership game against Sheffield Wednesday, they were back in the 1992-93 set – with Whelan’s daughters as mascots in the new strip.

Perhaps it was easier to embroider an old 1-11 set, given that squad numbers were about to come into use in the top flight.

While the new 1993-94 goalkeeper kit couldn’t be used against the Toon as it was mainly black and white, there was still no shortage of options as four different colours had been used in 1992-93.

Whatever the reasoning behind it, Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar took the field in the older slilver, magenta and purple colourway. Apart from the number, the shirt was devoid of markings apart from the testimonial fixture details.

At the time, Liverpool were three years into what would prove to be a 30-year wait for the league title – by contrast, that summer had seen Cork City take the League of Ireland crown for the first time.

Making their Champions League debut with a preliminary round win over Wales’s Cwmbran Town, City were drawn with Galatasaray in the first round proper.

The Turkish champions are most associated with red and gold halves, but in their home leg they played in an all-yellow Umbro kit with red trim – not ideal for a Taifun, you might think, but that’s exactly what goalkeeper Phil Harrington was given to wear.

This shirt had the club crest ironed on, albeit on the right breast as teamwear versions of this Taifun had the trefoil on the left.

A 2-1 defeat in Istanbul left City with all to play for back in Cork but – with Harrington in a purple version of the new adidas style on this occasion – Galatasaray won 1-0. The disappointment of the defeat was exacerbated by the fact that Galatasaray were drawn with, and went on to eliminate, Manchester United in the second round.